Baseball Headline

Senior righty Jay Brown and No. 6 South Carolina (43-13/21-9
SEC) used a six-run sixth inning to avoid being swept by No. 4 Florida (40-13/22-8 SEC) by notching a 11-6 victory in front of 7,523 fans at Carolina
Stadium on Saturday afternoon.Brown (3-0) held the Gators scoreless
into the seventh before the visitors rallied for six runs and was supported by
a grand slam from sophomore Jackie Bradley, Jr. (2-for-4, four RBI) and a
4-for-5, three-run outing by senior Bobby Haney.

The defeat ended UF’s seven-game winning streak and the
Gamecocks snapped a five-game slide in the series. Junior Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) continued to swing a hot stick by going 3-for-5 and freshman Cody
Dent (BoyntonBeach, Fla.) was
2-for-4 in his first start at shortstop. Florida returns to action on Wednesday
afternoon at 5:30 p.m. on the first day of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., against defending national champion LSU (36-20/14-16 SEC).

Sophomore Adam Matthews (3-for-5, two RBI) opened the
scoring for the Gamecocks with a two-out solo homer in the first inning off
freshman BrianJohnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (5-3). Matthews’
seventh big fly of the season and second of the series hit the batter’s eye in
straightaway center field. Johnson allowed two hits and a run in his lone
inning of work.

Sophomore Ben McMahan (Windermere, Fla.) (2-for-5,
two RBI) opened the second with a single into right center before junior right
fielder Whit Merrifield robbed Adams of a potential homer with a leaping grab
at the fence.

Merrifield (2-for-5, two RBI) put South Carolina ahead by
a 2-0 count in the bottom of the inning with a two-out single up the middle
that brought home Haney. After sophomore Anthony DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.)
had the first two batters ground out, Haney ripped a base-hit up the middle
and moved to second on a passed ball by senior catcher Hampton Tignor
(Sarasota, Fla.). Junior Scott Wingo earned a free pass for two runners
aboard and Merrifield sliced an RBI single into center field.

Florida’s bid to get on the board in the third against Brown fell by the
wayside when junior Bryson Smith (Watkinsville, Ga.) was called out at
home plate. Making his first career start at shortstop, Dent poked a one-out
single into left field but was erased on a fielder’s choice by Smith. A two-out
grounder by sophomore Jerico Weitzel (Ridgway, Pa.) was thrown away by
junior third baseman Adrian Morales, with Smith attempting to score on the
play. Freshman first baseman Christian Walker fired a relay to senior catcher
Kyle Enders as Smith slid into home and was called out.

The Gamecocks had a pair of runners in scoring position in
the fourth, as Morales was hit by a pitch to start the frame and Wingo doubled
to left field. However, DeSclafani had Merrifield fly out to sophomore Daniel
Pigott (OrmondBeach, Fla.) to keep
the Gators’ deficit at 2-0.

DeSclafani matched his season high of three innings out of
the bullpen, allowing three hits and a run, before sophomore Tommy Toledo (Tampa,Fla.) took over prior to the home part
of the fifth. In his SEC debut this year, Toledo worked 1.1 innings and was
replaced by sophomore Nick Maronde (Lexington, Ky.) after yielding a
leadoff single to Morales and a sacrifice bunt to Enders in the sixth. Haney
greeted Maronde (1 H, 2 R) with a base-hit for runners on the corners and the
southpaw plunked Wingo on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with one down. Junior Matt
Campbell (Tampa, Fla.) surrendered an RBI single to Merrifield that scored
Morales and then Bradley, Jr., cleared the bases with his ninth homer, a grand slam
that expanded the margin to 7-0. Matthews singled and Walker doubled off the
right-field wall before a grounder by senior Nick Ebert (1-for-3, two RBI)
plated Matthews with the eighth run.

Adams and senior Jonathan Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) delivered singles in the seventh to end the afternoon for Brown (6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R,
4 K). Tignor roped a two-run double into left center off junior John Taylor to
narrow the gap to 8-2 and Dent had an RBI single into left field to reduce the
Gators’ deficit to five runs. Daniel Pigott drew a walk for two runners on
base, forcing another call to the bullpen. Freshman Matt Price took over for
Taylor (2 H, 3 R) and issued a free pass to Weitzel that loaded the bases. The
righty caught sophomore Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) looking on strikes
but McMahan followed with a two-run single into left field to score Dent and
Pigott and close the gap to 8-5. Although Adams roped a base-knock up the
middle to score Weitzel with the sixth run, Price worked out of further trouble
by striking out sophomore Tyler Thompson (Tequesta, Fla.).

Haney led off the bottom of the stanza with a single
through the left side and was sacrificed to second by Wingo. Merrifield moved
his teammate over with a grounder and Haney scored on a wild pitch by Campbell to give USC a 9-6 edge. Bradley Jr. bashed a two-out double to prompt another
pitching change, as sophomore Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) came in for
Campbell (1.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R) and gave up an RBI single to Matthews for a 10-6
score. Ebert cranked his seventh homer into the left-field bleachers to begin
the bottom of the eighth to complete the 11-6 margin.

Game Notes

·South Carolina ended a five-game losing streak to
Florida dating back to an 11-3 win at the 2008 SEC Tournament.

·The six-run seventh
inning marked the 14th time this year that the Gators scored five or more runs
in an inning.

·Cody Dent made
his collegiate starting debut at shortstop, as Nolan Fontana had started the
Gators’ first 52 games of the season.

·Bryson Smith
made his first start in right field, while Hampton Tignor drew his second start
of the year behind the plate.